


a penny for a wish

by goomyfish



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Friendship, M/M, galolio implied hes not there just in spirit, it just makes me chiken tendie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-06 00:50:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21217829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goomyfish/pseuds/goomyfish
Summary: Lio turns to look at her. She's rummaging through her pockets, a quiet smile on her face. When she pulls her hand out, she has two pennies in her outstretched palm. "Here, take one. We can both make a wish.""A wish?""Mhm. When you flip a penny into a pond or a fountain, you make a wish. If your flip is good enough, it might come true. Not sure if I believe that, but it's a nice idea. Right?"





	a penny for a wish

"Hey, Lio!"

Lio lifts his gaze from the pond, where orange and black koi mingle like watery smoke and flame. "Oh, Aina. Am I needed elsewhere?"

"Not right now, nope. I was just walking around the park and I saw you here, so," she plops down onto the polished marble wall surrounding the lake. "I thought I'd say hi."

Nodding slowly, Lio turns his gaze back to the fish, watching them glimmer in the sea of pennies. His shoulders stiffen a bit. "Well… hi."

To say that he's comfortable socializing would be a lie, and Lio knows it; for most of his life, he spoke only with his own, to his own, and about his own. The Burnish lifestyle hardly allowed for much else. To live unarmored in the open was suicide. He much preferred to be clad in black fire, jagged and proud and unknown before the forces that challenged him. Interaction is a battlefield. Conversation could become subjugation at the slip of a single wrong word. Aina can't imagine the wars waging in his mind, even in the ruins of a prejudice that should no longer exist.

"Um, if," her eyes trace the paths of the fish as they twist and dance together. "If you want to be alone, that's okay-"

"No," Lio shakes his head. "It's alright. We haven't spoken properly yet, anyway. I regret if I've come across as, er. Rude."

"You're no worse than Galo, trust me. He's never heard of table manners, inside voices, or class," she giggles. "Honestly, you're pretty great! Your management skills have helped so much, keeping us on track… I just wanted you to know that we at Burning Rescue are really happy you're here."

"Hm." Does she really mean that? Probably not. "Thank you, Aina." 

Nobody in their right mind would be excited to have a former terrorist aboard their crew. Lio can't really blame the ones who still look over their shoulders when he's in the room. He expects as much. Galo is just too naive, thinking that he'd just magically become friends with-

"And… I'm happy, too."

Lio turns to look at her. She's rummaging through her pockets, a quiet smile on her face. When she pulls her hand out, she has two pennies in her outstretched palm. "Here, take one. We can both make a wish."

"A wish?"

"Mhm. When you flip a penny into a pond or a fountain, you make a wish. If your flip is good enough, it might come true. Not sure if I believe that, but it's a nice idea. Right?"

No wonder the pond is full of loose change. Lio snorts but doesn't say as much, examining the coin in his hand. Aina watches him with wonder, as if he might vanish at any moment. "Have you ever done this before?"

"If I have, I don't remember." Lio closes his eyes. "What do you plan to wish for?"

"If I tell you, it won't come true! At least, that's how the superstition goes. But," she rests her chin in her hand. "I think we might have wished for the same thing, a little while ago."

"Hah. What do you mean by that?"

"Well, you know: for peace among everybody, Burnish or not. Or, maybe... for him."

Lio's brow furrows. "Whom?"

In the twilight, the pond catches the fading sunbeams and glistens rose-gold. Lilypads glide along, pushed gently by the playful fish. Aina looks out across its surface with a smile, a thoughtful hum. "I know how you feel, Lio. I don't think I've ever seen Galo smile so much before you joined us," she chuckles. "And he's a pretty smiley guy. You’re the best thing that ever happened to him, and he’s… he’s our light, you know? A big, shining idiot beacon with a contagious laugh and a bottomless pit for a stomach. When he’s happy, we all are. I know I am, anyway. So, uhm. I guess what I wanted to say is: thank you.”

Galo? What does he have to do with any of this? So what if he’s grinning like a fool all around the office, or challenging him to see who can eat more pizza? So what if his eyes light up when Lucia pops a new hologram blueprint out to show him, so what if he runs and paces and jumps like a shaken soda when he’s excited, so what if his jacket is too big on Lio’s shoulders in the cold, yet somehow fits just right? So what if he really is a bright flame of hope to the citizens of Promepolis, to his friends?

And maybe, even to...

“Thanks for caring about him so much, Lio. And being there for him.” Aina smiles sweetly, her cheeks rosy in the raspberry sorbet glow of the sunset. “My wish is for you two to be happy, and take good care of each other. And, um, if you’re okay with it — that we could be friends, too?”

Lio’s mouth opens, and his face flushes. If he could thank the horizon for hiding it right now, he would. “Aina, if that’s what you want,” he nods, his eyes softened and sincere. “Of course.”

He extends a fist toward her. She laughs, closing the gap between them for a nice fistbump. The first evening stars peek down from the clouds as witness, through the boundless veil of lavender and deep blue.

“What about you, Lio? What’s your wish?”

He smirks, setting the penny in the crook of his index finger, thumb at the ready. 

“If I tell you, it won’t come true.”

**Author's Note:**

> i just want them to be friends thanks


End file.
